Thorsten Heins, CEO of Research in Motion, introduces the BlackBerry 10 (Picture: AP)

BlackBerry manufacturer RIM has finally unveiled the makeover it hopes will revive the fortunes of the once trailblazing device.

After a series of delays, bosses today launched the first handsets to run on its new revamped BlackBerry 10 software as they attempt to bring the phone out of the shadows of new market leaders Apple and Google.

They were billed as ‘one device for work and play’ as they were presented simultaneously in cities around the world, including London. The new operating system features a string of new additions to the BlackBerry to equip it to compete with modern smartphones.

More than 70,000 apps will be available as soon as the phones are sold, including Skype, Kindle, WhatsApp and Angry Birds.

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A persons holds a new BlackBerry touchscreen device which uses a new operating system (BB10), launched by parent company Research in Motion (RIM) at Old Billingsgate, London. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday January 30, 2013. BlackBerry 10 (BB10), initially two handsets with a brand new software system, is set to be launched by parent company Research in Motion (RIM) at six events around the globe.The much-delayed system is being closely watched by technology experts who want to see whether it can propel BlackBerry back into the big league alongside the likes of Apple and Samsung after a couple of troubled years. See PA story TECHNOLOGY BlackBerry. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

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A persons holds a new BlackBerry touchscreen device which uses a new operating system (BB10), launched by parent company Research in Motion (RIM) at Old Billingsgate, London. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday January 30, 2013. BlackBerry 10 (BB10), initially two handsets with a brand new software system, is set to be launched by parent company Research in Motion (RIM) at six events around the globe.The much-delayed system is being closely watched by technology experts who want to see whether it can propel BlackBerry back into the big league alongside the likes of Apple and Samsung after a couple of troubled years. See PA story TECHNOLOGY BlackBerry. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

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A persons holds a new BlackBerry touchscreen device which uses a new operating system (BB10), launched by parent company Research in Motion (RIM) at Old Billingsgate, London. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday January 30, 2013. BlackBerry 10 (BB10), initially two handsets with a brand new software system, is set to be launched by parent company Research in Motion (RIM) at six events around the globe.The much-delayed system is being closely watched by technology experts who want to see whether it can propel BlackBerry back into the big league alongside the likes of Apple and Samsung after a couple of troubled years. See PA story TECHNOLOGY BlackBerry. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

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A persons holds a new BlackBerry touchscreen device which uses a new operating system (BB10), launched by parent company Research in Motion (RIM) at Old Billingsgate, London. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday January 30, 2013. BlackBerry 10 (BB10), initially two handsets with a brand new software system, is set to be launched by parent company Research in Motion (RIM) at six events around the globe.The much-delayed system is being closely watched by technology experts who want to see whether it can propel BlackBerry back into the big league alongside the likes of Apple and Samsung after a couple of troubled years. See PA story TECHNOLOGY BlackBerry. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

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A persons holds a new BlackBerry touchscreen device which uses a new operating system (BB10), launched by parent company Research in Motion (RIM) at Old Billingsgate, London. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday January 30, 2013. BlackBerry 10 (BB10), initially two handsets with a brand new software system, is set to be launched by parent company Research in Motion (RIM) at six events around the globe.The much-delayed system is being closely watched by technology experts who want to see whether it can propel BlackBerry back into the big league alongside the likes of Apple and Samsung after a couple of troubled years. See PA story TECHNOLOGY BlackBerry. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

touchscreen Z10 Blackberry devices

touchscreen Z10 Blackberry devices

A member of the RIM team poses with one of the new touchscreen Z10 Blackberry devices in central London at one of eight simultaneous worldwide events for the launch of the BB10 operating system on January 30, 2013. Seen by some as the company's last chance to survive, Blackberry hope that the combination of a more user-friendly software interface with fresh touch-screen devices will bring the company back into shape in the face of strong market control by Apple and Samsung. AFP PHOTO/Leon NealLEON NEAL/AFP/Getty Images

touchscreen Z10 Blackberry devices

touchscreen Z10 Blackberry devices

The display of the new BlackBerry Z10 handset is pictured at the Blackberry smartphone launch in London, Britain, 30 January 2013. Research in Motion (RIM) launched its new BlackBerry 10 smartphone on 30 January. The company announced two new touch screen smartphones, the BlackBerry Z10 and the BlackBerry X10. EPA/ANDY RAIN

Blackberry, formerly Research in Motion CEO Thorsten Heins

Blackberry, formerly Research in Motion CEO Thorsten Heins, as officially unveils the BlackBerry 10 mobile platform as well as two new devices January 30, 2013 at the New York City Launch at Pier 36. BlackBerry launched its comeback effort Wednesday with a revamped platform and a pair of sleek new handsets, along with a company name change as part of a move to reinvent the smartphone maker. Canadian-based Research in Motion said it had changed its name to BlackBerry as it launched the BlackBerry 10, the new platform aimed at helping the firm regain traction in a market now dominated by rivals. AFP PHOTO / TIMOTHY A. CLARYTIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images

touchscreen Z10 Blackberry devices

touchscreen Z10 Blackberry devices

The BlackBerry 10 mobile platform is seen after being unveiled January 30, 2013 at the New York City Launch at Pier 36. BlackBerry launched its comeback effort Wednesday with a revamped platform and a pair of sleek new handsets, along with a company name change as part of a move to reinvent the smartphone maker. Canadian-based Research in Motion said it had changed its name to BlackBerry as it launched the BlackBerry 10, the new platform aimed at helping the firm regain traction in a market now dominated by rivals. AFP PHOTO / TIMOTHY A. CLARYTIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images

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touchscreen Z10 Blackberry devices

Vivek Bhardwaj, left, head of software for BlackBerry, and Thorsten Heins, CEO of Research in Motion, which is changing its name to BlackBerry, introduce the video share capability of the Blackberry 10, Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013 in New York. The maker of the BlackBerry smartphone is promising a speedy browser, a superb typing experience and the ability to keep work and personal identities separate on the same phone, the fruit of a crucial, long-overdue makeover for the Canadian company. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

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touchscreen Z10 Blackberry devices

The display of the new BlackBerry Z10 handset is pictured at the Blackberry smartphone launch in London, Britain, 30 January 2013. Research in Motion (RIM) launched its new BlackBerry 10 smartphone on 30 January. The company announced two new touch screen smartphones, the BlackBerry Z10 and the BlackBerry X10. EPA/ANDY RAIN

touchscreen Z10 Blackberry devices

touchscreen Z10 Blackberry devices

The BlackBerry 10 mobile platform is seen after being unveiled January 30, 2013 at the New York City Launch at Pier 36. BlackBerry launched its comeback effort Wednesday with a revamped platform and a pair of sleek new handsets, along with a company name change as part of a move to reinvent the smartphone maker. Canadian-based Research in Motion said it had changed its name to BlackBerry as it launched the BlackBerry 10, the new platform aimed at helping the firm regain traction in a market now dominated by rivals. AFP PHOTO / TIMOTHY A. CLARYTIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images

touchscreen Z10 Blackberry devices

touchscreen Z10 Blackberry devices

A member of the RIM team poses with one of the new touchscreen Z10 Blackberry devices in central London at one of eight simultaneous worldwide events for the launch of the BB10 operating system on January 30, 2013. Seen by some as the company's last chance to survive, Blackberry hope that the combination of a more user-friendly software interface with fresh touch-screen devices will bring the company back into shape in the face of strong market control by Apple and Samsung. AFP PHOTO/Leon NealLEON NEAL/AFP/Getty Images

Speaking in New York at an event beamed to the other locations, RIM president Thorsten Heins said he believed they would ‘transform mobile communication into true mobile computing’.

He said the operating system would provide a user experience that will go ‘beyond anything you’ve seen before’.

Mr Heins showed off two new devices- the touchscreen BlackBerry Z10 offering a larger display with a 4.2 inch screen and the Q10, a smartphone which retains the keyboard popular with users. He announced that the Z10 will be available in the UK tomorrow (Thurs).

The new system will have features executives call the BlackBerry Hub, Flow and Peek that make it easier to move between apps, emails and social media.

Mr Heins said: ‘The device adapts to you and delivers the content that is meaningful to you.’

Executives also lauded the system’s ‘super fast browsing’.

A man uses his Blackberry as people wait for the BlackBerry BB10 launch in Toronto (Picture: AP)

The popular BlackBerry Messenger service was also upgraded, given a video facility allowing users to see each other while communicating for the first time.

A new camera with a picture editing facility was also presented.

The phones will launch with the capability of playing music, TV shows and movies.

He added: ‘We have more apps by far than any first generation operating system.’

Mr Heins also announced RIM was to be called BlackBerry from now on.

Singer Alicia Keys was named as BlackBerry’s new ‘Global Creative Director’ and said: ‘I’m so excited.’

Mr Heins shows off the new smartphones (Picture: AP)

In London, COO Kristian Tear said: ‘With the pace of our industry we knew we needed to take our technology and business forward. BlackBerry 10 is a platform that will power not just the next generation of smartphones and tablets but also a whole new world of mobile computing. We believe it is the future of our industry.

‘It will shape the industry in the same way the original BlackBerry did more than a decade ago.’

Analysts believe the success of BlackBerry 10 could be crucial to RIM’s long-term outlook.

Ahead of the launch the firm’s stock has more than doubled since September, but it is still way below its 2008 peak when the BlackBerry was still a dominant smartphone – particularly among business people – and before the trend-setting iPhone and later Android-driven devices had taken a firm grip on the market.

Jason Jenkins, Editor of CNET UK said: ‘RIM, makers of the BlackBerry, today bet the future of the company on the Z10, a touch-screen phone that on the outside looks like an iPhone knock-off. But unfortunately for RIM, this is no iPhone.’

He said there were some positive features such as a good screen, ‘decent’ camera quality and an ‘impressive’ number of apps.

He added: ‘For those that absolutely have to own a BlackBerry, perhaps because their company likes the security features or because they are die-hard fans, this is step forward – no longer will people laugh at them for having a stone-age phone. There is also a version of the phone with a physical keyboard, the Q10, which may find a market with a small niche.

‘But the reality is that, for most people, there is no reason to buy either of these phones over a good Android phone or iPhone. The competition is just too strong.’